The 70 feet high Chirk aqueduct was built between 1796 and 1801 by Thomas Telford and William Jessop to carry the Ellesmere Canal. The aqueduct is situated on the border of Wales and England.

The ten circular masonry arches of the structure, each spanning 40 feet, have piers carried between them as pilaster strips. There is no cast iron trough carrying the water of the canal, as at Pontcysyllte. Instead, the bed is of iron plates, bolted together, with the side walls built of stone quarried locally at Pont Faen (http://www.chirk.com/aqueduct.html).

The viaduct, higher than the aqueduct, is an active railway viaduct and has a double track. It is absolutely exceptional to watch the canal boat and the train pass across these magnificent stone structures.